


love the sweet air of the voltives

by sapphire_blue



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29456763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire_blue/pseuds/sapphire_blue
Summary: “Soulmates are a sacred gift bestowed upon us by the gods. Two people who carry the same soulmarks are said to be the halves of a whole. One will love their soulmate as they do no other."Jon’s soulmark is a thin, sharp sword, etched into the skin over his heart. It is a rather small thing that no one knows he bears.
Relationships: Jon Snow & Arya Stark, Jon Snow/Arya Stark
Comments: 11
Kudos: 84





	love the sweet air of the voltives

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from "achilles come down" by gang of youths

_ Soulmates are a sacred gift bestowed upon us by the gods. Two people who carry the same soulmarks are said to be the halves of a whole. One will love their soulmate as they do no other. While it is recommended that soulmates wed each other, it is not a law. The rationale behind this is contributed to the rule of marriage. People come into their soulmarks at the age of eight and ten, by which point most Westerosi are already wedded. The smallfolk may wait until they have met their soulmates, but highborn Westerosi do not have such freedom. However, the obsessive nature of soulmarks that bind the soulmates together with an unbreakable tether cannot be denied. Some - not many - but some are driven into madness with their compulsion for nearness with no regard for the consequences. The most notable example, perhaps, is the tragedy of Rhaegar and Lyanna, the lovers who doomed the seven kingdoms and brought the Targaryen dynasty to its knees.” _

_ \- Archmaester Theobald, in The Tale of the Seven Kingdoms _

* * *

Jon’s soulmark is a thin, sharp sword, etched into the skin over his heart. It is a rather small thing that no one knows he bears. Samwell Tarly had asked him once, and Jon had given him a look, causing the boy to flush and look away. Jon is sure his friend had thought him uncaring, too busy planning for the war with the Others to worry about a future that would never come. Jon has never corrected him. The truth is, Jon knows who his soulmate is, as certain as he knows that she is dead. The needle on his skin might just be the very last thing he has left of her. 

Until.

Until.

Ramsay’s letter is a knife to his heart. Jon agonizes over the words again and again, keeps hearing them echoing in his mind at the most inopportune of moments.

_ I want my bride back. I want my bride back. I want my bride back. _

Is this what madness feels like?

He is fighting a war with death itself, and yet his heart yearns for a girl he once called sister, longing to see her smile at him just one more time.

When the knives in the dark come for him, it is almost a relief. He is released from his torment.

_ Forgive me, little sister. _

No. No.

His soulmate remains in the world still. He cannot die. He must save her.

When death spits him back out, he knows what he must do. 

* * *

He takes back Winterfell in her name. He beats the Bolton Bastard bloody with his fists. And when Arya is brought to stand in front of him, her brown eyes looking up at his grey with fear, Jon’s heart is stone. It is not Arya at all. 

_ Should I be relieved that it is not Arya who suffered such atrocities at the hands of a monster?  _ He asks himself, and is ashamed when he thinks,  _ no, because this means she is not by my side.  _

He lets Jeyne stay in the castle, and hears her soft whispers with a broken Theon. Jon cannot kill them. All his rage has turned into sorrow. His grief is crushing, and Jon often finds himself haunting the hallways outside her chambers, heart too heavy to go inside a space where she had been alive once. 

The northmen try to crown him King in the North, and Jon declines. Once, this was all he had ever dreamed of. Now, his dreams are grey with laughter that faded long ago. He tells his men that Bran is coming. That Rickon is alive. He has heard the whispers in the godswood. The old gods are strong in the north, and Bran is stronger. Sometimes, he misses how things used to be. He might have been a bastard, but he was a bastard with a home. Now his home is gone and he is alone.

* * *

Two moons after he has taken back Winterfell, there is a commotion at the gates. Samwell Tarly, Maester Sam now, comes to him with cheeks flushed and hands trembling. His eyes are glistening, but he is smiling ear to ear. “My lord,” Sam says, “Come to the gates.”

Jon does. It’s Bran. And it’s Rickon. Davos is with them, and there are two unfamiliar women, but Jon pays them no mind. His eyes are for his brothers only. He kneels in front of Bran, where he is sitting atop a makeshift chair, and speaks, voice ringing clear throughout the silent courtyard. “The King in the North!”

Others take up the chant without hesitation. Bran raises a hand, waiting until the chants have faded to mere whispers, and speaks. His voice is deep now, and Jon is at a loss for he cannot reconcile this man with the boy he had last seen. “Jon,” Bran says, somber. “We must talk.”

* * *

_ “Prince Rhaegar was said to be a sorrowful man. He had a somber face that ladies fell in love with easily. When he wed Elia of Dorne, many a maiden wept of heartbreak. It must be noted that Princess Elia was not his soulmate. They wed before they had received their soulmarks and they lived happily. Prince Rhaegar had three children by Elia, and Elia, as sickly as she was, had wanted for nothing. Then came the tourney at Harrenhal. The tourney became infamous throughout history, for this tourney was the beginning of the end. Prince Rhaegar won the tourney, and all eyes were on him as he rode past his wife, Princess Elia, who had clutched the hem of her dress so tightly it was said that she tore the silk, and deposited a crown of blue roses in the Lady Lyanna’s lap. Prince Rhaegar crowned Lady Lyanna his queen of love and beauty and all the kingdom watched as history began to unfold.” _

_ \- Archmaester Theobald, in The Tale of the Seven Kingdoms _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my drafts for 2 years now. I'm sick of looking at it. So, here you go. Maybe I'll finally be motivated to finish it and my other works as well. Because god knows I update my works once a year. If you've still stuck with me, lol, you have my deepest sympathy. Hope y'all are having a better 2021. 2020 was a dumpster fire, and 2021 will probably be the same, but here's to hoping.
> 
> Anyway, leave me a comment, or a kudos, if you'd like. It always means so much to me. Not gonna promise regular updates, because lord knows I never keep them, but now that I've settled a bit more in my new job, maybe I'll actually pick up the pen again.
> 
> \- Sapphire xx


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